vintagechaos.info

Greetings all.  While I have enjoyed my time working with this vintage group over the last few months, my time with you may very soon come to an end.  This has nothing to do with what vintage is doing but everything to do with what God is doing at St. Matthew.  A few months ago, I felt a confidence that I can’t attribute to anyone other than God that we were to start something new at St. Matthew to reach out to those of a post-modern mindset.  As many of you know, this has been one of our goals for two years now, but the time didn’t seem right and the people to lead such a venture hadn’t become apparent yet.  And so I began work with the vintage community to offer my gifts and to learn from the others involved.

The time now seems right and the people to form a leadership core have been brought to us by God.  I’ve copied a description of what we are doing below.

Dwelling is the name we’ve given to an exciting, new, comprehensive young adult focused ministry beginning this summer at Saint Matthew.

Dwelling is worship. Dwelling is service. Dwelling is learning and discussion. Dwelling is gathering around food and having fun. Dwelling is experiencing life with God – as he comes to live with us and we with Him.

The central part of our new ministry will be a new, Sunday evening worship opportunity tailored more to the needs and desires of younger adults – specifically those who were once a part of a church and are no longer or those who have never been a part of a church but are interested in faith and Spirituality. In addition, participants will be challenged to put the message into practice with a very immediate, planned, local service project or related activity. Along with the central worship experience, Dwelling will include a time to gather after worship to further discuss the message of the service. The purpose of this time will not be to listen to more talking or teaching on the passage, but rather will focus on questions, ideas, and discussion.

Along with worship, service, and discussion, anyone who comes can expect good coffee, fun treats, and an occasional barbecue or dinner before worship.

While this new ministry is focused largely on those not already involved in a Christian community, those of you already involved in Saint Matthew are wanted. There are three things you can consider that would be a great help to this new and exciting project. First, come. Just your presence can be a ministry. Imagine how awkward it would be if you were a visitor to a new place and you were only one of a few people there. You can help this from happening by coming. Second, we can use volunteers in a number of areas. Contact Jim for more information. Lastly, please pray for this ministry – the leaders and all who will come to be a part of it. Now, with that out of the way – our schedule. Dwelling worship will happen on Sunday evenings at 6:30 pm. We plan to meet once a month in the summer, June 24, July 15, and August 26. In the fall, we plan to meet every other week. At some point in the near future, likely after Christmas, we will begin meeting once a week.

As you can see, we’ve already met once.  We had a small crowd - but that was the design.  Our first three gatherings have been publized among St. Matthew young adults so that we can try out some different styles and get used to what we are doing before going to the community.

I would ask for your prayers for this new ministry - and for the young adults in our community.  In researching and planning our outreach strategy, we discovered that in teh 6 zip codes St. Matthew currently serves the most people in, there are over 7000 people who fit the demographic for dwelling!  What a field to harvest!

Thank you to all of you for allowing me to be a part of your vintage community over the last few months.  God’s blessings to you as you work to share God’s love with the people in your part of the city.  You are in our thoughts and prayers!